Planning a History Lesson with the Trivium in Mind

Teacher instructing students in the Medieval Era.

When talking with teachers who are new to classical education, I am often asked about planning a lesson “classically.” In response I suggest that a classical lesson is distinct from all other lessons in that it possesses elements of the classical Trivium: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric.  

If the ingredients of a lesson contain three features: deciding what to teach, organizing materials and activities, and bringing the lesson to life, then the Trivium is most readily applicable in the organization of the lesson.…

Using the Land of Hope Textbook – 3 Ideas

Cover of the Land of Hope textbook. picture is an impressionistic rendering of a city skyline with a harbor in the foreground.

Wilfred M. McClay’s Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story is the recommended student text for the eleventh-grade American history course. The text tells the story of America through a compelling narrative that appears and reads more like a novel than a textbook. McClay, himself, in his “Introduction” acknowledges the objective of his writing is “to offer to American readers, young and old alike, an accurate, responsible, coherent, persuasive, and inspiring narrative account of their own country – an account that will inform and deepen their sense of the land they inhibit and equip them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.” …

Class Government

A young boy at a desk points with a pencil at something at the front of the classroom.

When we study the framing of the Constitution in 4th grade, I highlight with my students how important it is that they understand the function of our government. Indeed, we discuss how, sadly, many Americans have not been equipped to really know the system outlined in this foundational document. Understanding the Constitution is an important conversation to have. Even at the simpler level in which we discuss it in my 4th grade classroom, it can be difficult for the students to grasp.…

Educating Citizens

Students prepare to raise the American flag in the morning with the warm sun shining through the flag.

The education of citizens is an education in love. This assertion may strike some as strange, unless what is meant by the word “citizen” is properly understood. To be a citizen of a particular place is to say that place is your own and that you belong to that place. And if we agree with Aristotle’s understanding of human beings as “political animals”, then there cannot be a nation with a citizenry of one.…

Freedom, Education, and the American Founding

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin around a table reviewing a draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The following is an adaptation of remarks delivered to students at an all-school assembly.

Once a month we assemble here, and for a few minutes we get to see what our whole community looks like together: from our Kindergarteners up here in the front all the way to our seniors somewhere there in the back, along with our whole faculty and staff.…

Bite-Sized Learning

A teacher at the front of the classroom raises her hands above her head while her students stand and do the same.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So goes the ancient proverb. The longer I teach, the more I know it is true. I want so many good things for my students. Principally among them is a complete immersion in formative content. But how do I make sure they can take in everything I teach? I teach in little, tiny, bite-sized amounts.…

Goodness Wins

A painting of Joan of Arc in metal armor, looking up at something out of view.

As we set up our notes for the day, my fourth grade students are quick to point out the large empty rectangle in the corner of the chalkboard. I tell them to copy it down and we will talk about it later. At this point in the year, we have just finished studying the the Hundred Years War, a war that unexpectedly had tipped to the brink of victory for the English until the arrival of the unexpected figure of Joan of Arc.…

A Life Lesson from THE Founder

A painting of General Washington rallying his troops at the Battle of Monmouth.

Very few men have stood as tall as George Washington in their character, nobility, and humility. Among his peers of founding fathers, he is known as THE founder. The one who led his tattered army to victory in the fight for independence. The one who led his country toward stability as the first president. The one who stepped down from leadership in humility to create a stronger union not based on a monarchy.…